[English translation not provided.]
Mr. Speaker, I wish to speak again about the initiatives and the needs of our small communities and convey the needs of my constituency. My constituency has expressed over the past four weeks the frustration of getting services to our communities and frustration about the interruption of ministerial portfolios that has impacted delivery of programs and delayed and deferred initiatives. That’s never popular with people who are waiting on programming.
However, I do want to say that I am a realist and that bringing up these issues doesn’t…. The main thing, I think, is that we continue to raise these issues in the House and give government a heads-up that they do need to accept and evaluate our needs, ensure that they fit into our existing guidelines and procedures and, if not, take the time to see if they can make it work.
Overall, I just want to say that the government’s got to be aware that their decisions impact my communities tenfold, I would say. A reduction of one job is huge in a community that only has two community government jobs. Reducing programming has taken away job opportunities and contracting opportunities for our communities that have limited resources, Mr. Speaker.
So I would like to key in on that when allocating resources to our communities. Government’s got to be aware and take in all the regional balances and the different impacts that it would have. Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Menicoche. The honourable Member for Yellowknife Centre, Mr. Hawkins.
